We arrived as scheduled on Wednesday March 17th for our C-section. Kaleva and I met the M&M in the lobby. They looked like dear caught in the headlights, they were ready to be dads but a bit overwhelmed that it was today! So we go up to L&D and I am put into my gown and on the monitors. I felt good that morning. No contractions or anything. So our nurse we had was named Tiffany Day and she was such a doll, just a great help and very sincerely sweet! So she put my IV in and it only took her 1 try!! So that shows how great she is cause it usually ALWAYS takes them more than one shot with my rolley veins. So at about 10am about an hr. after being there in on the monitors I noticed that the irritable uterus contractions that were on the screen became a tad more regular, about 2-3 min apart and they were grabbing my attention. I mentioned this to the nurse and she said that she would check me. Well according to her I was 2-3 and about 70% effaced so a bit more than my appointment last week with Dr.B. so she reminded me that just because I came in for a c-section I could always do a VBAC and at least try and let the baby see what she will do, she had flipped head down again so we were ready to go if I decided that I wanted to give it a few hrs. So she got Dr. B and he was also on board, said that he could break my water and see if that would bring on stronger contractions. He too reminded me that THIS was our original plan, to VBAC. I was a bit worried that the guys just wanted Caroline here and they kept telling me that I was in the drivers seat and they would be happy and fine with whatever I chose. I am not sure why but I just felt like I needed to giver her a chance to be born the way she should be. So a VBAC it was.
Dr. B broke my bag of waters around 11:30am and pretty much immediately I felt the contractions. I was transferred to a birthing room, since I was just in a prep room. And was put back on the monitors. I could definitely feel that the contractions were getting stronger, I did not realize that laying in a bed and laboring is HORRIBLE until then. Sarah came and was like lets get out of bed and walk, and it felt soo good to walk, I was still having them but they were not painful. So I had a new nurse named Jessie ( who was supposed to be my original nurse but she was busy which is why Tiffany too over, plus she, Tiffany, is the charge nurse) who came in and at first she was sweet but a little pushy, she wanted to check me almost every hr. I had to get the guts up to tell her no more checking me for a while. She agreed but acted like she did not want to. So I got to walk and sit on the birthing ball for a about 2.5 hrs before they stuck me on pitocin, it was my request NOT to have it unless necessary but they found it necessary. The contractions were consistent at 2-3 min. apart but not very strong and had not changed my cervix at all. So they started me on a dose of 2 milli, per min. This was around 3:30 and she said she would keep turning it up every 30min-1hr. Well I could feel that the contractions were getting stronger but no big deal so I went to walk, this whole time Sarah was great she and I were just talking and laughing and making jokes. So I knew they were still not strong enough. Well here came the nurse to turn it up to 4, 4 was still bearable and alright but a bit more painful.
So around 4pm I found myself having to close my eyes and focus a bit more, I was feeling more pressure so I knew the pitocin was working. I decided to get checked again. WELL Jessie needless to say preformed the MOST painful exam I have ever had, she said she could feel the scar from where I had my LEEP done and that she wanted to really try and stretch through the scare tissue because she thought that was why I had not dilated. She was so rough and I know I have a high cervix but damn, after all that I was still a “ stretchy 3” so she freaking turns it up to a 6 after she leaves, does not ask or say anything just does it. Which was SOOOOO annoying. Like I did not have choice. Ugh. So on to more contractions, only these ones were some really good ones, they were making me have to sway and focus on other things. I was happy that I was doing it this way but man I just knew it was going to get a LOT worse.
So we were predicting times but everyone thought it would be MUCH later that I would have her. The nurses kept telling me that after my cervix got past the scar tissue from my LEEP then I would be JUST fine and things would progress quicker. It would just be a matter of time. So I continued to contract and around 6 pm they wanted to turn it up to 8 but I bluntly told the nurse NO cause these contractions I was having at a 6 milli were good strong contractions. She ( Jessie) was NOT happy with me saying no and blamed it on Dr. B wanting to turn up the pit. Well I was not having it, so Tiffany (Charge nurse) came in and was so sweet in the way that she explained to me WHY they wanted to turn the pit up. It made sense why and the baby was just fine, she was actually having accelerations when I was contracting so she was a happy camper and as long as she was happy they would keep the pit up. So up the pit went to an 8 and THAT is when things started to get hairy and PAINFUL. I had to actually close my eyes and focus on something else entirely. It was rough but doable. I thought my pain level was on a 7-8 with these contractions. So around 7 pm things were getting hairy and I had to start labor dancing with Sarah, moaning, swaying to get through the contractions and Sarah just kept making sure I was focused and staying strong. She also explained what would be happening to the guys, with me, when I get to transition, how I would be acting, the birth and how things “could” happen. The guys were very happy that she explained these things to them. So around 7:30-7:45 I needed to be checked at my request cause it was just a LOT of pressure, so they checked me and I was 5-6!! So I knew things were progressing but man these contractions were as well. This was around the time that I started to tell Sarah that I could not do this and the new shift nurse ( Margret) was soooo annoying she kept asking me what I wanted to do and if I wanted an epidural and petting me like I was a dog I finally had to tell her to stop touching me. It was crazy I think she really wanted me to say that I wanted an epidural. Well a few minutes later I was begging for one and that nurse jumped up so fast to get the anesthesiologist it was crazy and Sarah kept telling me that I could do this without it and just a bit longer, well it happened so fast that at 8pm I was 8cm and was in FULL transition and it was ROUGH to say the least. It was beyond painful, I know that I was loud as hell too. LOL So the anesthesiologist came in and was asking me questions and I answered them before he was even done asking me the question, it was sort of annoying. Well Sarah just kept me soooooo focused that I did not want to get off of the floor for him to even do the epidural. The nurses decided to call Dr. B, but because I was moving so quickly that they had to call the OB that was there in the building, and at the last minute Dr. B made it and it was time to push. So @ 8:19 I started to push and by 8:29 pm Miss Caroline was born!! She is sooo beautiful! No swelling at all, her head is perfect! She is small after all!! Only 6.9 lbs it is funny that they are ALWAYS wrong about the size of the babies that I have had and she proved to be the same, she is 19inches long.. She is soooo beautiful! I got to see the guys face right after she was born and it is something I will never forget! I still cannot believe that I had a pitocin, epidural free birth. I can’t say I will EVER do that again but I can say that it was worth ALL the pain!
No comments:
Post a Comment